In the Midwest.

Alcohol Blamed During Unwanted Sexual Activity

MADISON, WISCONSIN — Alcohol abuse played a role in the majority of unwanted sexual activity experienced by nearly half the senior women at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Almost half the women who responded to a campus survey said they experienced unwanted sexual activity by the time they reached their final undergraduate year. Those experiences left women with feelings of guilt, failing grades and clinical depression, the study found.

The survey was conducted by a UW-Madison graduate student during the 1994-95 school year that focused on the sexual experience of undergraduate women.

Surveys were sent to 1,000 women -- 250 from each class -- and 62 percent responded. Unwanted sexual activity ranged from kissing and touching or fondling to forced sex.

About 47 percent of the 140 seniors who responded reported experiencing unwanted sexual activity at some point during their studies at Madison.